The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea plant, botanically known as Echinacea purpurea, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Pink Shuttles’.
The new Echinacea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Echinacea cultivars with unique inflorescence form and attractive ray floret coloration.
The new Echinacea originated from a cross-pollination in Bovenkarspel, The Netherlands in July, 2003, of a proprietary selection of Echinacea purpurea identified as code number Ec 201-01, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Echinacea purpurea identified as code number Ec 202-01, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Echinacea was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in IJsselstein, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Echinacea by micropropagation in The Netherlands since 2004, has shown that the unique features of this new Echinacea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.